Petition filed in SC for arrest, ECL placement of Sharif family

LAHORE: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court’s Lahore Registry pleading for placing the names of former premier Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif, his children Maryam, Hussain and Hasan, and son-in-law MNA captain (retd) Muhammad Safdar in the Exit Control List (ECL) on Tuesday.

The petition has been filed by the Khudai Khidmatgar organisation. The petition pleads that the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to file references against the Sharif family members.

It states that as per Section 24 (a) of the NAB Ordinance, 1999, persons against whom inquiries are ongoing can be arrested on orders of the NAB chairman.

The petitioner also claims that there is a fear that the Sharif family members present in the country can flee abroad. Therefore, the court should place the respondents on the ECL and have them arrested as per the law.

Then prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from holding public office by the SC on Friday.

Sharif was disqualified under Article 62 (1) (f) of the Constitution over his failure to disclose un-withdrawn receivables constituting assets from a UAE-based company. It implied he was not ‘honest’ and ‘truthful’, as per the country’s Constitution.

The court also ordered references against the Sharif family members and other accused in accountability courts.